The intravenous administration of various types of fluids to patients in a hospital or the like, is a technique in widespread use. Ordinarily, a pole is inserted in a socket on the frame of the patient's bed, the upper end of the pole usually being provided with a hook from which the inverted bottle of IV fluid is suspended.
Should the intravenous pole, or IV pole, as it is commonly known, be located below a piece of equipment, such as a wall-hung lamp fixture, and should the bed be elevated, the IV pole will engage the fixture, frequently causing damage to the equipment and in some cases serious harm to the patient, should the bottle be dislodged from its support, for example.
IV poles of a telescoping nature are not unknown; however, so far as I am aware, such poles are extended to the required height and then locked in place, as by set-screws. In effect, such poles are no different from fixed ones and are capable of causing the same damage in the event the bed is elevated.
There is, in other words, considerable room for improvement.